Thursday, November 14, 2013

Recently struck me... Food inflation

YoY increase in food prices (India) - 45.67%
No sane man could have guessed this correct if you asked him a year back (whatever happened to garibi hatao..). The weekend was spent doing research on how food ends up on our table (will not bore you will details).
Anyway.. There are at least 6 - 7 value adding layers which add-up to produce that basic idli-vada / anna-sambar on dining table.
Interestingly many companies in the supply chain have seen Sales, GM% increase quite consistently. Debt seems to be the only concern for some big companies.. (Example - Jain Irrigation.. by the way - I trust this to be a multi-bagger); then again I think the inflationary trend is not factored in at all. Stock prices have remained at pre - 2008 levels though earnings have more than doubled for most agri based firms.
Well.. on a side note, maybe... instead of getting MBA degrees - youngsters should pursue agriculture degrees. Anyway; for me - its time to pick up some stocks cheap.
But seriously - think again 45.67%!
Ciao till next time... Harsha